Thursday, June 12: We hear a lot about the cruise line industry in South Florida since we call ourselves “The Cruise Ship Capital of the World.” Millions of passengers fly in each year and board humongous ships in the Fort Lauderdale and Miami ports of call.
I wouldn’t say that Nicki and me are big cruise ship aficionados, but we’ve gone on a couple of cruises when I was asked to be speak about good health. You may laugh and wonder how the phrases “cruise ship” and “eating healthy” can be spoken in the same sentence. Most people have images of roly-poly tourists pigging out all day long, but always saving room for the “midnight buffet” and fifty-yard long displays of every dessert known to mankind. But it is possible to eat healthy on cruise ships if you stick to fruits, vegetables, fish, and meat, although I doubt many of those items are grown or raised organically. It’s the greasy burgers and fries, the deep-dish pizza, and the Baked Alaska that’ll kill you every time.
If you’re taking a cruise this summer, you have something other than the Midnight Buffet to be concerned about. I’m talking about the cleanliness of the ocean liner from top to bottom. You’ve probably read the news stories about vacationers leaving cruise liners green under the gills because they caught a bug of some kind and got very sick. Or maybe you’ve seen the video of a battery of cruise ships being steam-cleaned from bow to stern. Normally when there’s been an outbreak on a ship, a virus has been spread through fecal-oral contact say health authorities. Translation: the disease was spread by cruise ship workers who went to the bathroom and failed to wash their hands properly (or at all). Then their germs contaminated any foods they handled, like lettuce and tomatoes, and customers got sick.
This hit home for me when I debarked from an Alaskan cruise a couple of years ago. The porter carrying our bags remarked, “You’re lucky you weren’t on the boat that left the day after yours. The whole ship caught a bug, and the passengers and crew all got very sick.”
I thanked my lucky stars, but I try to protect myself by using a system that I call “advanced hygiene.” I wash my hands several times a day with a special semisoft soap (when it’s available to me) and also perform “facial dips” in the morning and evening in which I dunk my head into a washbasin filled with warm water and two eyedroppers of a mineral-based facial solution.
If you and your family are taking a vacation this summer—like on a cruise ship, at an amusement park, or popular tourist site—think about how you can protect yourself and your family. The best way to prevent illnesses from attacking your immune system is through keeping your hands thoroughly washed throughout the day.